Osman

Osman (1258-1326) was an Anatolian warlord who was best known as the founder of the Ottoman Empire. By 1301 he controlled land around the city of Nicaea (Iznik) and, as his success against the Byzantines grew, more Turkish warriors were attracted to his banner. His son Orkhan would conquer Brusa, Nicaea, and Nicomedia in the 1320s and 1330s, weakening the Byzantine Empire.

Biography
Osman's Anatolian family was pushed westwards by the onslaught of the Mongol Empire, and the very year he was born, Baghdad was sacked. His father Etrugrul conquered the Byzantine Empire city of Thebasion (Sogut), which became the capital of his Kayi tribe, in 1231. In 1282, he came to the fore as mercenaries from across the Byzantine Empire streamed into his realm to plunder the remaining strongholds of the Greeks. One night, he had a dream that Sheik Edebali interpreted as a message from God that he would take over the world. He was given Edebali's daughter as his wife, and in 1302, at the Battle of Bapheus, he defeated a Byzantine army near Nicaea. Shortly after, he seized the city of Ephesus.

His last action before his death was to capture the city of Brusa (Bursa) from the Byzantine Greeks. Brusa became the capital of his eponymous Ottoman Empire, and his son Orkhan would proceed to conquer the cities of Nicaea and Nicomedia.